Tennis ball drill
Why it works
A tennis ball is too small to trap against the chest, so the drill removes the wrong technique instead of asking a nine-year-old to stop using it. Nobody has to be corrected. The ball does the coaching.
Run it
6 MINTwenty catches each with two hands, then ten each with one hand. Stop at six minutes whether or not they finish. Hands get worse when they get bored, and the last minute is better spent catching an actual football.
Say this
“Show me your hands before it leaves mine.”
Hands up and out early, away from the chest.
“Ten fingers, not two hands.”
Fingertips, not palms.
“Watch it all the way in, then look at me.”
Eyes stay on the ball through the catch rather than up the field.
“Feet quiet. Your hands are doing this.”
The body stays still so the hands have to work.
Good looks like
- Hands are already up and away from the chest before the ball is released.
- The ball stops in the fingers. You hear a soft catch, not a slap.
- Arms give an inch back toward the body on contact rather than staying rigid.
- Head stays down on the ball until it is held, every single rep.
- Ten in a row without a bobble, then they have earned one hand.
The mistakes
Hands that arrive with the ball. Late hands are most drops at this age, and no amount of catching practice fixes them until the hands get there first.
Say: “Show me your hands before it leaves mine.”
Clapping at it with flat palms, which fires the ball straight back out. Slow the toss down until the fingers are doing the catching.
Say: “Ten fingers, not two hands.”
Turning the head away at the last instant. That is fear, not technique. Step in to three yards and toss softer until the flinch is gone.
Say: “Watch it all the way in, then look at me.”
Reaching with one arm while the body drifts backward. Make them catch it standing still before they catch it moving.
Say: “Feet quiet. Your hands are doing this.”
Sit them down cross-legged and toss from three yards. Sitting kills the body catch on its own, without anybody being told off for it.
One hand only, catching hand behind the back on the reset. Then two balls at once, or call left or right after the ball is already in the air.